GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man
Special Re-Run
“Nigel Tufnel Top Ten” RUSH albums with Mike and Meat: LeBrain Train re-edited
May 16, 2020: A very special show went down, back in the primitive wilderness days of Facebook Live. It was pandemic times, and seeking ways to come up with musical discussion topics, Uncle Meat invented the “Nigel Tufnel Top Ten”. I was resistant to doing list shows, because everybody else was posting lists. Top ten lists…so ours went up to 11. Thank you Uncle Meat for coming up with this concept. This was our first of many list shows, which became our trademark.
In an ironic twist, we lost Fred Willard on that day, who was indeed in the movie This Is Spinal Tap, from which the phrase “these go up to 11” was taken. We paid tribute to Mr. Willard off the top of the show…and at the end too.
In this short episode, Meat and I run down our top 11 Rush albums, with a special guest list from Michael Morewood. Back in the Facebook Live days, only two people could share the screen! Written lists, sent into us, were the only way to include more than two people!
This luminescent list of Rush was a portion of a longer show, so it has been edited down to just the Rush lists and the Willard tribute. Please enjoy this awesome set of lists, now in a perfectly digestible size!
Wednesday June 17 at 12:00 AM EST, 1:00 AM Atlantic. Enjoy on YouTube.
Missed the May 16 live stream? No problem. Watch LeBrain and special guest Uncle Meat below, discussing favourite Rush albums. Then LeBrain dives into Tony Martin-era Black Sabbath singles, and finally makes a surprise purchase live on the stream! We also pay tribute to Fred Willard who passed away at age 86. We’ll miss you Fred.
There has been an audio lag issue with the Facebook live streams which looks like an issue that happens when one person leaves during a split screen. Going forward I will either have to reboot the stream at that point or use another platform. Apologies for the audio lag. Enjoy the show.
Last week was a lot of fun, wasn’t it? Let’s continue! Starting at 6:00 PM E.S.T., I’ll be going live on Facebook. We’ll catch up with some general chit chat and then we’ll delve into another batch of my favourite records. This time I’ll include 7″ singles and cherished oddball releases.
In music news we have some tragic deaths and new releases. Have you heard the new Rolling Stones single “Living in a Ghost Town”?
Let’s talk about this and more tonight at 6:00 PM Eastern Standard Time. Facebook: Michael Ladano
Someone last week requested that I cover my favourite vinyl on the next live stream. At the same time, I received some feedback that going back to a discussion format like the early streams might be fun. I’ve decided to do a bit of both.
For today’s live stream, starting at 6:00 PM E.S.T., I’ll be talking about some of my favourite records. Why are they some of my favourites? We’ll get into that and more. But we’ll start with some free discussion about whatever you want. How are you holding up now, two months into this crisis?
I read an interesting comment about new music during the crisis. “I’d prefer not to get any new albums at this time,” went one comment, “because I don’t want to always associate that music with this time.”
Let’s talk about this and more tonight at 6:00 PM Eastern Standard Time. Facebook: Michael Ladano
Wanna see stuff from my collection? All you have to do is ask. This week the request was “Let’s see your favourite box sets”. I’ve rounded up a few for show & tell. I will go live on Facebook April 25 at 7:00 PM Eastern Standard Time. (If you missed last week’s live stream, Rare Box Sets, you can watch it here.)
The subject matter this week is My Favourite Box Sets. Most of these you have seen on my site already but we are about to take a closer look. I’ll be live for roughly an hour with these awesome box sets. Rob Daniels from Visions in Sound will be going live after I’m done so I’ll be jumping over to catch his show!
Join me tonight at 7 PM E.S.T. for some rock and roll shenanigans! Facebook: Michael Ladano
I hope you’ve been enjoying these Facebook live streams! I sure have been. This week’s stream will be Saturday April 18 at 7:00 PM Eastern Standard Time. The idea behind changing days and times is to give different people an opportunity to watch. (If you missed last week’s live stream, The Judas Priest Discography, you can watch it here.)
The subject matter this week is: Rare Box Sets! I have an armful dusted off to show off to you. Some you may have seen on my site before, and some you might not even know existed. I’ll throw in a rare album or two as time permits. I plan on going for roughly an hour. Rob Daniels from Visions in Sound will be going live after I’m done so I’ll be jumping over to catch his show!
No crazy stunts this time, but I will be trying out a new feature. Whether it’s a bomb or not, we’ll see. It’s called What the Hell is Mike’s Dad Watching on TV.
Join me tomorrow at 7 PM E.S.T. for some rock and roll shenanigans! Facebook: Michael Ladano
Disclaimer: There will be NO half-moons this time. I swear.
Join me for Friday April 10 at 5:00 PM E.S.T. for the third Friday Live Stream! This week we will be tackling the complete discography of a beloved metal band, looking at some special musical rarities (CD and vinyl)…and something craaazy.
I’ve been making videos for over 30 years. It’s important, when possible, to keep your source material. It’s necessary if you ever feel like revisiting your work. Or, if you feel like presenting “previously unseen material” to your audience as new content.
Here are some outtakes representing the last 30 years of making videos. You’ve never seen ’em before and I hope you enjoy!
The Ladano clan is very proud of Dr. Kathryn, PhD. She has the musical gift: she can write it, play it and understand its structure down to the very skeleton. That’s why she’s the doctor of music and not me. I don’t have those gifts. I can appreciate music, but I’ll never really be able to play it (or Grok it) on the level she can. Not even close!
I’ve accepted this. I continue to write about music, using the limited vocabulary I have, and although I wish I could dig deeper into the nuances, I do the best I can. When Dr. Kathryn tries to explain music theory to me, my eyes glaze and the words sail over my uncomprehending head. I wish I could get her to write something for me, but a doctor of music maintains quite a busy schedule! (Much of it is Game of Thrones nights.)
My dad played saxophone his younger days. Whatever the genes are for musical talent, they skipped by me completely. My sister got them all in spades. People expect me to be able to play. I get that question all the time. Twice in the last couple weeks, people asked me what I played, and were shocked when I said “nothing”. It must be unusual in music when one sibling excels (how many doctors of music do you personally know?) and one gets zilch.
I imagine my dad sitting in his bedroom playing that saxophone, in grade five or six. He would be practising something, probably by John Philip Sousa. He never could have imagined, living in that house at 18 Division Street in Guelph, that he’d have a kid who is a doctor of music one day. His father didn’t play music. His mother liked musical movies but that was about it. He didn’t come from a musical family at all. Where did all that talent come from? My mom has some music on her side, but that’s for another story.
18 Division Street looks completely different today; I couldn’t point it out if you asked me to. But I remember it, and that’s where our love of music probably originated. My dad and his saxophone.
A least I can imagine what it was like. When Grampa Ladano died in the early 80s, my dad found an old 8mm film. It took a couple years to convert it to VHS. What he discovered was a video of my Grampa, Grandmother, and himself as a child, at the old house on Division Street back in 1946. Full colour, too, which was very expensive in the 40s and for several decades more after. That should indicate just how special this roll of film is. My grandmother, who I never met (she died when my dad was a little boy) was known for her beautiful flower gardens. The Horticultural Society decided to come over and film them, and the family together. My dad is the young child dancing around! He wasn’t supposed to, but he was trying to get on camera, and they didn’t have a way of editing things out! He was sent to go and play elsewhere! My grandfather is the shirtless man. Just like the old days when shirtless men would hang around the neighbourhood talking and socializing! The other man is the mayor of Guelph.
I’ve digitized that old tape and now I can watch it whenever I want to.
This video, folks, is the beginning of the Ladano story in many ways. My dad and his saxophone were really the start of it. The people in this video are responsible for the site you are reading today!
mikeladano.com 